Ranger83

Another update. 35,000 miles, no problems, going in for another dyno run in two weeks.

Ih ad the car dyno'd on regular and there was no evidence in the logs that detonation was occuring. You can reset the ECU as you describe on older Subarus buit not 2005+. I have logged all fuel use since new. Last year's log was posted on subaroutback.org. I switched between grades every 2,000 miles, until I became convinced that there was no discernible difference. Subaru "recommends" 91 octane but the mid grade fuel is 89 and premium 93. I've tried them all. The variation due to driving is much more than any difference in fuel. This also means it would be easy to convince yourself one particular grade of fuel got better mileage.

Update. Car now has 32K miles on it. I've been using regular exclusively for at least six months. No problemo.

I've had a chance to drive on a lot of ice with the Nokian WR's in the last week. Truly impressive. They are the ultimate New England tire!

We've bought several sets of Valeos, which were expensive but buy one, get one free from Tirerack. They replaced the regular and winter blades we'd been using. My other choice is Bosch.

The chain tensioner issues have been pretty limited to early-on H6's - 2001 mostly. You can run regular or mid-grade - Subaru just "Recommends" Premium. I use mid-grade (89) pretty often, or Regular, but never Premium, which is 93 around here. The local dealer said not to run synthetic oil in a VVT engine but SOA says they don't care. I've been using Mobil I since the first oil change.

I log all fuel use and even ran my H6 on a dyno on regular. Most regular runs fine. All mid-grade runs fine. Premium is a waste of money, but it's a religious argument. From what you've described the first thing I'd check is that all the spark plugs boots are tight.

Let me clarify - your Legacy GT model, basically a badge engineered Legacy with +1 wheels at the time, did not sell well. The Outback wagon was the best selling wagon in the USA in the late 90's.

Subaru has two AWD systems. The VTD system used on the 6's and turbos is well proven. A lot of manufacturers are moving away from Haldex for various reasons and they offer no performance advantage over even the basic AWD system in use on 4 cyl Subarus. The SI-Drive equipped turbos are very competitive with other AWD crossovers. Acura, BMW, Mazda, and Mini have all brought new turbocharged models to the market. Subaru sales are at an all time high and you are driving one that is two generations old - and one that did not sell well at that. You are not the target market. A Lexus RX400h - about the size of a Tribeca - has an MSRP of over $42,000. That's beyond what folks are spending for any Subaru. No one knows what will happen to hybrid vehicles when the battery fails - estimated replacement costs are in the range of $10,000 and is likely an environmental nightmare. A used hybrid may prove to be the worst possible automotive purchase - one reason why they are expected to retain their 1% market share. A Subaru station wagon and an eBike make a whole lot more sense for most people.

My sister in law's failed at 245K after being replaced at 145K. The ones we replaced at 140k were still going stong at 187K when sold.

Do you keep a box of timing gears under the front seat, or?

Loctite is your friend. Very cheap at any auto parts store and keeps things together. If it's a critical bolt I usually upgrade it with a US made or higher grade fastener. Some of the low cast Chinese fasteners have very poor strength.

Isthis the only time you have a problem? Some tires "track" on grooves worse than others.

A few problems with the idler on thee 2001 and later that are driven a lot no the highway. Otherwise very reliable. MPG seems to be 10-20% less than the H4. Hard to find and much more expensive than H4's used, however.

A year ago I didn't know anyone with Nokian WR's. Now I have two cars with them, and three friends have mounted them as well - two year-round. I got an email from a co-worker who went from OEM Bridgestones to the WR's. She drove home in an ice storm recently and was puzzled by all the cars off the road. She got home, stepped out of the car, and fell down on the ice! He lives in Alaska..... Your experience with studded tires is very out of date. Modern studded tires have progressed a long way, with fewer, shorter studs and more advanced tire compounds. Two people at work have Hakka II's - one studded and one not - and there is little difference driving them back-to-back. The Norwegians tested both at: http://www.motor.no/pdf/044-50_Mo08_LR1.pdf. "Piggfri" or "dubbfria" are the non-studded tires. Their performance is extraordinary on snow and ice, and many of the studded tires stopped in a shorter distance on wet pavement than the stud-free versions.